The classical modern period, 1900-1945, saw a great deal of cultural change, and many different composers helped shape the musical landscape of the early 20th century. Browse our sheet music and scores, take a look at our Classical Modern Sheet Music Downloads, and explore the wide world of classical modernism with Stretta Music today
The horrors of World War I brought about such a shift in perspective, that art would never be the same again. The cultural and social changes that had already begun at the end of the 19th century led to new prospects, which were mirrored and expressed through various innovative artistic movements, them sum of which is called Classic Modernism.
During the 20th century, the boundaries of tonality were stretched so far that one could no longer speak of tonal music. The most striking examples of this are polytonality, employed by composers like Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, and Charles Ives, and to an even greater extent serialism, the twelve-tone music of Arnold Schönberg and his students.
The rise of nationalism in the late 19th century sparked a great interest in rediscovering folk music. New technical developments, such as the invention of the phonograph, also made it easier to document and collect folk music. Great folk Pioneers were the Romanian composer Béla Bartók, the Czech composer Leo Janáček, the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály, and the Australian-American composer Percy Grainger.
This development led to a new idiom within classical music, both melodically and rhythmically. Good examples of the integration of folklore into classical modern music are the melodies from Janáček’s Jenufa, which are based on the rhythm and intonation of the Czech language, and Bartók’s Second Violin Rhapsody.
Expressionists aimed to capture true emotions without glossing over them. Above all, they looked at the subjective inner world, in contrast to the outer world, and left all traditional ideals of beauty behind.
Expressionist music is characterised by dissonance, extreme dynamics and great contrasts in colour, pitch and effect. In music, expressionism is generally associated with the Second Viennese School, founded by Arnold Schönberg and his students Anton Webern and Alban Berg, and the dodecaphonic, twelve-tone technique they used, known as serialism.
Examples of expressionist music include Schönberg’s Erwartung, 1909, and Berg’s Wozzeck, 1922.
Another classical modern departure from the ideals of the Romantic Period was to draw on forms and tropes of the Baroque Period and the Classical Period. This was expressed in the use of traditional musical forms, as in Martinů’s Concerto da Camara, 1937, the use of traditional instrumentation, as in Manuel de Falla’s Concerto for Harpsichord, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet & Cello, 1926, and also in the use of thematic material from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, 1920.
Score
Item no.: 262651
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 645994
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 412763
Score
Item no.: 180880
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 338844
for: Organ
Item no.: 336277
for: Piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 4321
for: Soprano saxophone [tenor saxophone], piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 642635
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 348380
for: Piano
Item no.: 275268
for: Flexible ensemble (5 parts), piano (school orchestra)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 585503
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 109228
from: Drei Lieder
for: Voice (baritone/alto), piano
Music score
Item no.: 750938
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 336276
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 658196
for: Tuba In C or Tenor Horn B-Flat and Piano
Book
Item no.: 267106
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 395233
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 395303
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 272643
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 138249
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 550217
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2939
for: Baritone saxophone
Buch
Item no.: 926532
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1548508
for: Cello, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 911131
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128161
for: Trombone, organ
Ensemble score
Item no.: 368408
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100883
for: Piano, orchestra
Piano reduction (2 piano's)
Item no.: 903341
for: Horn, orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1021507
for: Tenor basson, basson, contrabasson [2 bassoons, contrabassoon]
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 781114
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1559859
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 140810
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 108868
for: Viola, piano
Item no.: 467802
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1585004
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 290585
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 279895
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 316411
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction (Hardcover)
Item no.: 128194
for: 5 flutes (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 583278
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 167461
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Conductor score
Item no.: 287263
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 206961
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 245059
for: Violin, Narrator
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1050653
for: Clarinet
Item no.: 261566
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 249522